Novelty television lamp



Nov. 6, 1956 L. w.. FENWICK 2,769,260

NOVELTY TELEVISION LAMP Filed July s, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 TELIEMHN INVENTQR. Lou/s W Fenw/c/v Nov. 6, 1956- L. w. FENWICKY 2,769,260

NOVELTY TELEVISION LAMP Filed July 5, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LoQ/s 14 Fenw/ck United States Patent NOVELTY TELEVISION LAMP Louis W. Fenwick, Santa Monica, Calif.

Application July 3, 1953, Serial No. 366,003

1 Claim. (CI. 4077) g This invention relates to novelty lamps and more. particularly to a novelty lamp for use with a television set and having a housing or cabinet simulating in miniature the outward appearance of a television set and means for setting up reminder indications of the channel number and time of a future television program.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a novelty television lamp which closely resembles in miniature the outward appearance of a television set; which provides indirect illumination at different selected intensities; which provides a manually settable means for setting up a reminder indication of the channel number and time of a future television program; which may carry an illuminated advertising sign or device, if desired; and whiclris simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture, convenient to use, and attractive and ornamental in appearance.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: I a

Figure l is a front elevational view of a televisionlamp illustrative of the invention; f; h

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view onthe line 2 -2 of Figure 1; A I I,

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 2; I

Figure 4 is a line 44 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 2. 1 t

With continued reference to the drawings, the numeral generally indicates a lamp housingor cabinet of rectangular shape designed and proportioned to closely' simulate in miniature the outward appearance of a-conventional television set. provided in the upper portion thereof with an opening 12, a rear wall 13 the upper portion of which is omitted to provide a rear, light emitting opening 14, a continuous bottom wall 15, a continuous top wall 16, and continuous side walls 17 and 18.

A sheet metal frame 20 issecured in the opening 12 in the upper portion of the front wall 11 of the cabinet which frame resembles, in miniature, the frame surrounding the front or picture end of the picture tube in a television set and the walls of this frame extend, inwardly of the cabinet and are inwardly inclined to provide at the rear end of the frame an opening of reduced size in which is secured a screen 21 of translucent material. A window 22 of transparent material is secured in the frame at the outer or front side of the screen 21 and is spaced from and substantially parallel to the screen. The screen 21 is of generally rectangular shape, having convexly curved edges joined at the rounded corners of the .screen and is provided at its lower corners with openings 23 and 24 of rectangular shape.

A support 25 in the form of a plate of rectangular shape is disposed inwardly of the front wall 11 and fragmentary cross sectional view on the This cabinet has a front wall 11 2,769,260 Patented Nov. 6, 1956 2 mounted at its bottom edge on the bottom wall 15 of the cabinet. The top edge of the support 25 is disposed somewhat below the bottom edge of the opening 12 in the front wall and bearing sleeves 26 and 27 and 26 and 27' are mounted on the top edge of the support 25 near each end of the top edge of the support. Stub shafts 28 and 29 are journalled in the bearing sleeves 26 and 27 respectively for rotation about axes disposed perpendicu-- lar to the front wall 11 of the cabinet and discs 30 and 31 are mounted at their centers on the shafts 28 and 29 respectively for rotation with these shafts and are disposed at the rear side of the support plate 25. The discs 30 and 31 are formed of translucent material and are of circular shape and each has a diameter somewhat less than one-half the widthof the front wall 11 of the cabinet. The disc 30 has around'its circumferential edge "ice . a circular series of spaced apart numerals 32 running from one to fourteen and corresponding to the numbers of the commercial television channels and the disc 31 has around its circumferential edge a series of spaced apart numerals 33 running from one to twelve and indicating the hours of a twelve hour period of time. Dots 34 are disposed one between each two adjacent numerals 33 to indicate the half hours between the hours desig nated by the numerals.

The disc 30 is so positioned that the numerals 32 thereon are selectively registerable with the opening 23 in the screen 21 as the disc is rotated and the disc 31 is so located that the numerals 33 thereon are selectively registerable with the opening 24 in the screen as this disc is rotated, both discs being juxtaposed relative to the rear or inner side of the screen 21, as shown in Figure 2.

. A gear 35 is mounted on the stub shaft 28 at thefront side of the disc 30 nearest the front wall 11 of the cabinet a similar gear 36 is mounted on the stub shaft 29 at the front side of the disc 31, the shafts 28 and '29 and gears 35 and 36 constituting the hubs of the discs 30-and 3 1.

Stub shafts 38 and 39 extend through apertures provided in the front wall 11 of the cabinet one at each side of the front wall and are respectively disposed adjacent to and parallel to the stub shafts 28 and 29. These shafts are journalled in the bearing sleeves 26' and 27' respectively'and gear 40 is secured on the shaft 38 at the inner side of the front wall 11 and meshes with the gear 35 on the stub shaft 28 while a gear 41 is secured on the shaft 29 at the inner side of the front wall and meshes with the gear 36 on the stub shaft 29. A hand knob 42 is mounted on the shaft 38 at the outer side of the front wall 11 and a hand knob 43 is mounted on the shaft 39 at the outer side of the front wall.

The discs 30 and 31 are manually rotatable from the exterior of the lamp cabinet by rotating the hand knobs 42 and 43 and can be rotated by means of the hand knobs to selectively bring the numerals thereon into registry with the corresponding openings 23 and 24 in the screen 21 so that the selected numerals will be visible through the window 22 from the front of the cabinet and will constitute reminder indications of the channel number and time of a selected future television program.

The upper portion of the front wall 11 together with the frame 20 and window 22 closely simulates the-upper portion of a television set, the knobs 42 and 43 disposed below the frame 26 simulate the dialing knobs of a television set and below these knobs a rectangular body 45 of fabric is cemented or otherwise secured to the outer surface of the front wall to simulate the cloth shield covering the loud speaker opening in the bottom portion of a television set. The front wall is also marginally shaped or ornamented to resemble a mitered frame 46 extending'entirely around the front portion of the cabinet and leg structures 47 and 48 are disposed below and secured to the bottom wall 15 of the cabinet one near the front wall 11 and one near the rear wall. 13 to simulate the legs or base of a television set.

A lamp bulb socket 50 is mounted on the bottom wall 15 of the set near the rear Wall 13 by a nipple 51 extending through an aperture in the bottom Wall and receiving a nut 52 at the outer or under side of the bottom Wall to firmly support the socket in position on the bottom wall. An extension cord 53 extends from the socket 50 out of the nipple 51 and is provided at its end remote from the bulb socket with a plug connector 56 for plugging the lamp into a convenience outlet of a house wiring system. The socket 50 is of a well known or conventional form and preferably includes a three position switch and a switch operating element 54 extends from the socket to the rear wall 11 of the cabinet. A lamp bulb 55 is mounted in the socket 50 and the arrangement is preferably such that the lamp bulb can be illuminated at two different degrees of intensity as well as being turned on and off by the switch in the bulb socket. It is, however, entirely within the scope of the invention to provide a switch which will merely turn the lamp bulb on and off without providing different degrees of illumination intensity therefor.

A reflector 58 of generally rectangular shape and formed of a suitable sheet material, such as sheet aluminum, is disposed between the lamp bulb 55 and the front wall 11 of the cabinet with its bottom edge resting upon the bottom wall 15 of the cabinet and secured to the bottom wall by fasteners 59 extending through a flange 60 on the bottom edge of the reflector and into the bottom wall 15 of the cabinet. The upper portion of the reflector is curved away from the lower portion and is inclined upwardly and rearwardly, as indicated at 61, so that the top edge of the reflector is connected to the top wall'16 of the cabinet near the rear edge of the top wall. This reflector reflects the light from the lamp bulb 55 outwardly through the light emitting opening 14 in the rear of the cabinet and, when the lamp is disposed on top of a television set, this light will strike the room wall at the rear of the set and be reflected into the room to provide indirect illumination. This is a highly desirable function of the lamp since it has been found that a soft, indirect illumination in the neighborhood of the television set tends to prevent eyestrain and undue fatigue of the eyes of a person Watching television programs.

The reflector 58 is provided with an opening 62 therein opposite the screen, 21 and light from the lamp bulb 55 is transmitted through this opening, the discs 30 and 31 and the openings 23' and 24 in the screen 21 so that the numerals disposed in the openings 23 and'24 are illuminated from the rear and are clearly visible to a person observing the lamp from the front of the lamp cabinet.

The novelty lamp is thus not only attractive and ornnmental in appearance but it also provides a form of beneficial indirect lighting for use during the viewing of television programs and provides means for setting up reminder information as to future television programs. Also, if desired, advertising material such as an advertising slogan or device may be provided on the screen 21 above the openings 23 and 24 in the screen to bring to the attention of persons viewing television programs advertising information, such as the name and address or telephone number of a television repair organization.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come Within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

A novelty lamp comprising a cabinet of rectangular shape and having a back wall provided with a light emitting opening and a front wall provided with an opening in the upper portion thereof, a screen of translucent material disposed inthe front wall opening and having opening means therein, at least one manually rotatable shaft extending through and disposed substantially perpendicular to said front wall, means mounting said shaft on the cabinet, a knob secured to said shaft at the outer side ofsaid front wall, a disc of translucent material mounted at the rear side of said screen for rotation respectively by said shaft and having a circular series ofindications thereon selectively registerable by rotation of said shaft with said opening means in said screen, a lamp bulb socket mounted in the lower portion of said cabinet, a lamp bulb mounted in said socket, and a reflector extending from below said lamp bulb between said lamp bulb and said-front wall and to the upper edge of the light emitting opening in said back Wall and having. an opening therein dimensioned to confine light from said lamp bulb to said screen.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,385,006 Kemp July 19, 1921 1,859,813 Wilhelm May 24, 1932 1,881,995 Bernstein Oct. 11, 1932 1,921,102 Slattery Aug. 8, 1933 1,978,402 Crane et al Oct. 30, 1934 2,090,086 Weiner Aug. 17, 1937 

